A Fairytale Plot
by sassystarbird
Summary: When wishes are made and wonderous new worlds are entered, it's up to a particular, practically perfect princess to return everyone to normality. Rated K Plus just in case
1. Prologue

**AN: I obviously own none of the characters in, or the musical, Wicked. Just a warning, I have never seen the musical before, so the way the characters act are how they do inside my head, so if you notice OOC moments, I'm sorry. I do hope to see it soon, however, so that will change, I'm sure. Plus, make sure to leave comments, because I'd love to hear your suggestions, (since this is my first ever story written for FanFiction) and thoughts :)**

 **P.S. I know I'm not a very good writer, but I really wanted to give FanFiction a try ;)**

 **Anyhoo~ enjoy!**

 **-NefariousRosette**

The morning sun peeked through the windows of a Ms. Galinda Upland – just like a morning from a storybook. Though, this storybook-morning, however, they weren't her own windows. You see, she, and her four friends were on vacation at a beach house somebody's uncle owned – or something like that.

Galinda rubbed her tired eyes, brushing aside the pale pink curtain from the window. Yep. Today was going to be bright and sunny. She tried to smile as she made her way to the teeny-tiny bathroom, where she removed her curlers. _Perfect. fairy tale-perfect - perfect in every way_. _At least, for now_ , she thought. Dabbing on an unusually small amount of makeup, Ms. Upland made for the pile of suitcases that she'd brought along somehow.

Picking out a frilly peach-pink sundress with white polka-dots, white high heels, and a matching flowery headband, she headed downstairs to meet up with the others.

"Good morning, everyone!" the blonde called out in a sing-song voice. Cheerfully she almost bounced into the kitchen, finding absolutely no-one and nothing, except a note and... a cupcake? _A note, huh? Cupcakes, hm? Sure, wake up early and leave Sleeping Beauty behind...with nothing but a morsel to keep her alive._ She crossly picked up the note and dessert with gentle hands and read:

 _ **Dear Glin, wishes come true! It's your birthday today, so make a wish!**_

Her birthday, of course! _They must all be getting ready, she thought._ Galinda, who'd been munching away at the cupcake, had forgotten to make a wish! With her mouth full she said,

"I wish my life was a fairy tale!" she shut her eyes, expecting a magical sparkle to whisk her away to a distant land with a fabulously-haired prince and little talking animals; but alas, nothing happened. Galinda sighed.

"Haha, real funny, guys," she said in an unamused tone, "everyone knows wishes only work when you blow out the-"

Cutting herself off, Galinda quickly noticed the candle left on the saucer, burning away. Not thinking she blew it out to keep it from setting the place on fire.

Voices called out in airy, almost non-understandable words.

And that's when it happened.


	2. Look What We've Got

**AN: Thank-you so much if you're reading/following this story - I really appreciate it! :)**

 **Just so you know, this story _will_ cross over into other stories (fairytales) and I figured I'd better write out a disclaimer. I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THESE STORIES OR THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED.**

 **If you're enjoying this, or even if you're not, I'd love if you'd comment so I can hear your lovely thoughts/criticisms. If you so happen to like this story, please favorite/follow me or this story so - one - I know people are reading this, and - two - so I have a little more motivation to write ;)**

 **Again, thanks readers, your company is always appreciated!  
**

The ground was soft against her side. Cloud-like grass sprouted up all around resulting in an almost mossy appearance. Her eyes opened slowly. Growing wide with wonder, (and perhaps a tinge of terror) she began to take in these new-found surroundings. A velvety pink painted the sky and tinted the off-white clouds with a dusty rose hue. The angelically bright sun nearly blinded her with it's sparkling golden rays. Small flowers ranging in lovely vibrant colors bloomed all around her, making a sort of meadow out of this heavenly spot.

What exactly was she doing here, she wondered. She tried to file through the mess of thoughts swirling about inside her brain, while beginning to stand up. Perhaps she was on vacation, and had – at last – discovered the most _perfect_ place. But that seemed too unrealistic- like this mysterious landscape. Something jumped inside her, like a sudden thought trying to get her attention. She scrunched up her face, (in a comical way) trying to think clearly.

She could have sworn the flowers were giving off a perfume-scent.

She was supposed to be picking flowers. That's what her mind was trying to remind her of. Although that seemed uninteresting and _rather unimportant;_ she did as she pleased anyway, so she began with the seemingly scented ones.

Pastel blue, yellow, and pink made it into the small basket. _A basket!_ That made sense if the flower-picking idea was true. Slowly but surely the little woven basket filled up. Little by little, Galinda began to feel drowsy. She wondered, if she was picking flowers, why she was out in the field so early. However, that thought quickly fell away as a shadow appeared on a rock face about twenty feet in front of herself.

She dashed behind a thickly trunked tree – one just big enough to conceal herself.

Galinda squealed in fear, covering her quivering mouth soon after. As the shadow-figure came closer, it seemed, he appeared to be holding a weapon – an ax! Galinda suppressed another scream.

A voice called out; and in all too familiar a voice...

"Where are you, princess?" it said gruffly. Then the figure came into view. A fairly short, fairly well-dressed young man with a mask covering half his face, (from the nose down) messy brown hair and a blue cap with a feather. He seemed to be looking for something – a princess, as she'd gathered. This strangely familiar looking man- boy- man- boy- (she wasn't sure which), held his ax firmly in his right hand while searching the small meadow area for this _princess_. While Galinda didn't want to intrude, and the man looked a little on the grumpy side, she did love a good fairytale, so she decided to see if she could help. That is – if it didn't involve lifting things, getting dirty, running, or any other back-breaking jobs. She did not want any nails being lost this trip.

Slowly she emerged from behind the tree in a graceful swaying movement towards the young man who's back was currently turned to her.

"Hello?" she said quietly, waiting a few paces behind him. Perhaps, all too quietly, she quickly decided.

"Sir?" she tried. But he didn't move from his searching position. He seemed to have found the flower basket and, apparently, was in deep thought. Way too deep of a thought for Galinda's taste.

 _"_ _PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"_ she shrieked. This fellow was rather unlike anyone she'd ever met – ignoring all that was herself.

Swiftly, the 'fellow' spun around, ax ready, with an intense, angry sort of look about him.

Galinda smirked, at least she got him to pay attention... "I didn't want to hurt you, I wanted to help you!" she insisted as the man drew closer, "Honestly, I mean of all the rude things, ignoring me and holding an ax to me – CUT THAT OUT!" She screeched as the cold metal drew nearer. She ignorantly pushed it aside.

"Maybe you just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today," she placed a hand on his shoulder, "I seem to have woken up on the wrong – but quite fabulous – side of the universe; and that's just it sir. I'm lost. And I noticed you had a missing person case on your hands. So I figured I'd help you out in return for directions. Or something along those lines; we could work something out, I'm sure! I'm not generally the business type, but if you-" she was then immediately cut off my the young man's gloved hand covering her mouth.

While this seemed quite a rude gesture, she began to notice his rather boyish eyes, leading her further to believe that he was not a man, but a boy.

He seemed to be examining _her_ face, which must have been quite a trial due to Galinda's squirming. The mumbling never stopped until he removed his hand – which then grabbed her hand and ran with her across the meadow towards a beautiful, crystal blue waterfall, next to which was a small cave, the entrance covered in vines.

Galinda gasped for air. Seeing as she'd not been able to breathe while the man's hand had been covering both her mouth and nose with it's entirety, and now she was racing across the padded ground for no reason at all, it seemed, she had begun to lose her breath quite fast.

They stopped inside the cave, thank goodness, though it appeared they could have gone on a lot longer. The caved looked like it just kept going and going – like a tunnel.

After Galinda had caught her breath, the young man began to speak.

"Princess," he began, "I am sorry for my ignorance." he removed his hat in an apologetic manner, bowing before her with the grace of a- well, so it wasn't _graceful_ , but it was a bow so she accepted it. And 'Princess'. She could get used to that.

"Let it be forgotten, as it were." Galinda said, smiling and mimicking what she thought to be a queen's attitude and speech.

"As you wish, your highness." the man said, placing the hat upon his mess of hair once again.

"Your highness..." Galinda mused in repetition with an un-aristocratic giggle. She coughed, attempting to cover herself, and said in her most regal tone of voice,

"Yes, yes, quite."

The young man smiled. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your morning flower-picking, but I had to warn you." he stopped as a dead silence filled the cave – even the waterfall becoming significantly quieter.

"Excuse me," Galinda interrupted, "warn me of what mister- sir-" she fumbled through several titles, none sounding quite right.

"You may simply call me the Huntsman – though Ax-Bearer should be my real title." laugh lines appeared under his eyes as he broke the pompousness of the whole conversation.

Galinda smiled, not laughed, hoping to retain her magisterial appearance. Still it was nice to see that this 'Huntsman' seemingly preferred the more casual side of conversation.

The conversation soon turned right back around to formalities though, when the Huntsman said,

"Yes, _Your Grace_ , I came here to warn you of the horrible, _wicked_ plotting of the Queen, your stepmother."

Your Grace? Plotting? Queen? _Stepmother_? All of this was so new and confusing, Galinda didn't know what in the world was happening. And who was this Huntsman character, that he should know? Surely he didn't reside in the Queen's quarters of the castle himself – how would he find out about this in the first place? And who was she in all this madness? Apparently the stepdaughter to a wicked queen with horrid intentions. Also a princess, she had to remember. And a princess would courteously continue a conversation.

"Is that...so?" she said quietly.

"Indeed, Madam. Why else would I have come all this way to warn you of it?"  
"No need to get snippy!" Galinda shot back. She quickly regretted it, however.

"I mean, there is no reason to be hasty-" she then was unkindly interrupted herself.

"There is every reason and more, Your Excellency!" he breathed deeply as he gathered himself. "The time is now. I must tell you everything."

"Everything?" Galinda questioned.

"Everything." the Huntsman repeated solemnly. A short silence was proceeded by a confession about how the Huntsman himself had been working for the Queen, but refused her orders upon hear her true plans; that the princess should be killed in favor of the Queen's own vanity.

Galinda was utterly shocked. This was an awful lot to take in for one day in a strange new place.

For the first time, she almost wished to be back home. With her annoying friends, her curlers, and her suitcases full of clothes. Also for the first time that day, she remembered her friends – which now seemed terrible of her, to forget them while she flaunted about in the meadow, picking sweet-smelling flowers and got kidnapped, (in a way) by a mixed up, strange huntsman fellow who's intentions were now blurry and vague to her. Suddenly it didn't seem _all that_ selfish – just a tad bit.

Still... her friends were probably worried, wherever they were. She strained her brain, trying to think back to when she and her friends were together, but it was as if her mind's memory was blurred. Memories beyond the meadow escaped her – and she didn't like it. She suddenly found herself wishing Elphie, 'Yero, Nessie, and even that rather annoying little munchkin boy, Biq were beside her, instead of this odd, mysterious ax-bearing man who may or may not help her. Or even kill her. She trembled.

She had to find her friends, somehow. They'd know how to help her get her memory back- especially Elphie.

She sighed as she snapped back to reality where the Huntsman stood before her wearing a concerned expression.

"Are you alright, Princess?" he asked quietly. "I know it may be shocking – especially to yourself, but I assure you, you have to entirety of the kingdom behind you." he bowed once again. _"I_ am behind you; your wish is my command."

That was a relief. At least he wasn't going to kill her, it seemed. She gratefully accepted this courtesy – however cheesy.

He looked her in the eyes. "I said I would reveal everything, did I not?" he said seriously enough.

Galinda nodded. Where was this going? She'd had enough surprises for one day.

Slowly, slowly, the young man began to unravel the dark cloth that was his mask, as he unveiled his mysterious identity – not that it mattered to Galinda. After all, who of importance would she know in this land?

"I stand corrected." she said in an unintelligible whisper.

Before her stood not a man, not even a boy, but a munchkin; an unusually tall munchkin at that - and as far as Galinda knew, there was only one of those.

His name was Biq.

 **AN-2: Since I'm new, I'm not exactly sure when to update/when I will end up updating. If chapters keep flowing, there will probably be more periodically throughout the week. If not, well, I'll still try to get SOMETHING up at least once a week. Sorry for all the author's notes :P**

 **In short - I'll update as much as possible. I should have a steady rhythm by either the end of this story, or the start of a new one someday in the future.**

 **-NefariousRosette**


	3. Enough to Give Pause

Chapter Two

 **AN: Thank-you readers, if you're following this story (and** ** _still_** **reading it) - and even if you're not :)**

 **I STILL** ** _DO NOT OWN_** **ANY OF THESE CHARACTERS, OR WICKED, OR ANY OF THE FAIRYTALE PLOTS THIS STORY MAY INVOLVE.**

 **Sorry this took so long, but every time I tried to write, the story wasn't going how I wanted. But I managed to squeeze this out, nearly a week after my last post. Anyhoo~**

 **Comments, Favorites, and Follows of every kind are always appreciated! :)**

 **Now please, enjoy the story :)**

"Biq!" she nearly yelled, wanting to throw herself at him. "You are, well, you are-" again, she found herself fumbling through a sentence, "I'm just so terribly glad to see you!" she said in a relieved sigh.  
Unlike herself, Biq, (or Boq, as he was _actually_ called – unknown to Galinda) didn't seem so happy at this sudden, unlikely reunion. He just stood there; not with an annoyed expression, not a tired one either; it was more of an odd, puzzled look that he shot at her – as well as a reprimand involving keeping her voice down.

Once calm, Galinda tried getting through to him again – though he seemed to have had enough already.

"Biq," she said, "it's me – Galinda. From the Upper Uplands? From school? Your _friend_?" Honestly, though, she had never thought of Boq- or _Biq_ , rather as a friend – but perhaps that's what he thought of her. Besides, it sounded more dramatic to her with that part added.

After a moment or two of sheer silence, it dawned on her. What if the others, too, had lost their memories? After all – Galinda couldn't remember anything before waking up in the meadow, so why shouldn't they, if they had come along for the ride, have forgotten things too? But her identity? Somehow that seemed unlikely – especially in Biq's case. He _adored_ her – _loved_ her; (the last one gave her shivers... of the utterly disgusted sort) how could he _just forget her_? She hadn't forgotten _him_ , for Oz' sake! And she didn't care about him _in the least_. In fact, she'd remembered _all_ her friends, she called them, for lack of a better title, so she figured Boq should remember as well. Then again, she had heard munchkins have small minds – but she quickly forgot about that.

Biq – or the Biq look-a-like – grinned with such amusement she thought he would burst. Or, at the very least, that his smile would touch both his ears. He let out a hearty laugh before saying,

"Galinda, yes, I'm well aware." he winked mimicking a debonair manner, something she didn't - scratch that _never -_ wanted to see. Coming from him, that is.

"Well, good," she huffed in mock annoyance, "I thought you'd never 'come to', as it were." She found herself throwing him a playful wink as well, though she soon wished she could take it back. She didn't want him thinking of her... like that, though she knew he already did. Strongly. And she hated it – for the most part. Little known to her, she enjoyed the attention of almost anyone. And if Biq (Boq), was included, that truly meant _everyone_.

But she had to try and forget all that now, because as Biq had earlier stated, 'the time is now'. Which, as far as Galinda was concerned, didn't make much sense. It made about as much sense as waking up suddenly in a meadow and finding out you're a missing princess – or something – and that your wicked stepmother the _Queen_ is _trying to kill you._

"If you're really wondering what's going on," he began suddenly, in a hushed tone, "I can't say myself. I suspect you yourself encountered the same difficulties with, uh, memories?" he stopped, waiting for a response. Galinda nodded slowly. "Good – I mean, not 'good'... y-you know what I mean. Anyway, what I've been doing is following the plan."

Galinda stopped nodding her understanding nod. She, frankly, didn't understand.

"The what now?" she said confusedly. Boq smirked. He seemed to be enjoying having a hold on her emotions – that is, he enjoyed the hold on the suspenseful...ness of the situation. Galinda sighed deeply, growing increasingly impatient.

"The plan, Your Grace-"

"Biq, you don't have to continue the-" Galinda interrupted, but Boq, in return, shushed her with the quick gesture of his finger to his lips.

"The plan." he stated for the third time. Clearly he was milking this moment for all it was worth. "The plan, in this case, find a place where the Queen won't be able to find _you_. A place deserted and hopefully out of reach from the Magic Mirror – that I _know_ she has contact with."

Galinda made a small 'hm' noise, which, to Boq, meant that – at the very least – she was paying attention to him. _Point 1 for Boq, Point, uh, 9,897 for Fiyero,_ Boq calculated.

There is no need to explain that Boq and an unaware Fiyero had a 'deeply rooted rivalry' when it came to Galinda.

"How do you figure?" questioned Galinda after a moment or two of silence from Boq who had been preoccupied calculating meaningless numbers and statistics of such kinds – unknown, of course, to Galinda.

"I figure, Princess, that because – for one, I awoke in the palace. I saw the door open a crack in the Queen's quarters and without a doubt, I say, there was that horrific magic mirror and the Queen herself; conjuring up tricks and other dastardly plans, I shouldn't wonder... one of them, as I overheard, being to kill... _you,_ Your Excellency."

"As you've said, as you've said."

To be quite frank, Galinda was becoming fed-up with the munchkin boy already, finding him utterly impossible to understand... using big words like 'one', and 'up', and well- okay, they weren't _big_ words exactly, but they were _Biq_ 's words, and she hated every one of them. On the inside.

"Yes, I guess I have," Biq agreed, combing his hair gently with his fingers, "but the urgency remains that we get out of here – way, way, _far_ away out of here." he finished.

Galinda sighed. She didn't like the idea much. She figured that running, jumping, and high-impact tripping would probably come packaged with this bundle of nonsense.

"First," Galinda said loudly just as Biq was turning to leave, "tell me how you made it out the palace alive. Surely the 'wicked' Queen wouldn't have just left the door open for some bumbling servant like you...r cohorts," she smiled, hoping to cover up her rather minor mistake, "right? I mean, if I had a _magic mirror_ I wouldn't just leave door flying open- she might as well have had a sign on the front of the door or the whole palace saying: COME WATCH THE QUEEN PERFORM HER DAILY...EVIL-WITCH-Y-STUFF ROUTINE... I mean, right?"

Boq laughed. On the inside. Galinda may have been a bit on the ditsy side, but she sure was pretty... and he was getting way off track. He replied,

"A rookie mistake, yes, but one that can happen to anyone."

"But surely she must have seen you – if her mirror can see throughout the land, surely she could see a bumbling...you..." Galinda wanted to kick herself. Not because she turned a simple contradiction into a full-out insult, but because she could not get the hang of the art of cover-ups.

Boq coughed awkwardly.

"Yes, well, she did see me, actually... b-but I escaped!"

"Obviously." Galinda shot back; uncharacteristically dry in her tone of voice.

"Obvious it may be, but it was harder than you think."

Galinda rolled her eyes,

"That well may be Your Biq-fullness, but I do not happen to care at this time. Nor do I plan on caring any time hereafter." She let out a triumphant humph. At least she could play well in the game of comebacks.

"This is no time to argue," Biq chided, interrupting Galinda's moment, "now is the time to get a move on!"

Galinda grunted indescribable words, which, most likely, weren't words at all. She seemed rather fed up with all this – but she resolved to follow Boq anyway. After all, she had no-one else to turn on- ...to. She had to find the others, and maybe Boq knew how. If only she could get her hands on that magic mirror...

"Galinda!" yelled Biq, waving his gloves hand in front of her face. Galinda blinked repeatedly, promptly slapping his hand away.

"DON'T TOUCH ME!" she wailed, slapping him once more for good measure.

"Ow, ow- OUCH! But I di-"

"SUSH!" she screeched. Boq did as he was told. Then he tried to talk some sense into her.

"Galinda, we need to leave now, okay?"

The softness of an oncoming breeze allured her so, she almost left anyway, forgetting the flim flam Biq mentioned time and time again...

Boq sighed. Getting Galinda to pay attention for long periods of time was going to be tough, but for now, as long as she was entranced by the soft, calming wind he figured he might as well lead her on – whether she was aware of it or not.

Many minutes of traveling soon turned to hours; just as the sun became the moon and stars in the ever-changing sky. Galinda was now fully aware of the plan – or rather, that there _was a plan_. In fact, Biq had been quite vague about the whole thing, only letting her in bits at a time like an old rusty-hinged door...

She remembered he'd said something about a forest running a straight line down the middle of some well-known part of the land, (she didn't care much for remembering names) and something about a river that led away from the castle, but, again, she didn't know much. She figured it to be best if she waited for Biq to inform her of further plans than to waste precious brain-cells.

She would just have to wait.

 **PS: I might not be writing/posting for a while because, as I'm sure you know, Halloween is approaching and my costume isn't anywhere near done... But I'll try and get something down when I can.**

 **Wish me luck, and Happy (early) Halloween!**


	4. Some Confusion

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Wicked - like I ever will.  
AN: Sorry I haven't posted in a while, I've been pretty busy lately - but I'll try to continue this. I will say, it's been hard picking up where I left off, but I hope this will do...**

Chapter Three

At approximately what Galinda believed to be midnight, she and Biq set themselves down for a much-needed rest near a lush glen, that if she'd been able to see, Galinda would have thought it a beautiful sight. But, for now, all she could see was a munchkin boy chopping up wood for a fire.

Galinda hoped he'd be done soon – and better yet, the fire. She hadn't had anything to eat that entire day, which astonished her. She hadn't even noticed – a strange thing to her, indeed.

Soon, however, she would have something to eat, and so would Biq. Though she thought he hardly deserved anything. After all, she'd end up sleeping on the ground – uncovered – under the stars, vulnerable... why, she thought, anything could jump out of somewhere and pounce while she slept. And she didn't count Biq out either. Him and that ax of his. She still wasn't sure if she trusted him, though it was more a matter of her _not wanting to_ trust him. Though she couldn't remember much outside her friends and this horridifying day, she couldn't help but think that there was something strange between herself and Biq – something like a love-hate relationship with a heaping helping of hate. And an extra side of hate. And sweet, sweet hate for dessert.

But past all that, she knew they knew each other outside of today, obviously, and though her thoughts were muddled and confusing, she knew that they'd had something to do with each other before, and this relationship, should it even be called that, was nothing new.

And, yet, there was the other side of her saying that they practically just met, and she, the Royal Princess, was having delusions of these so-called 'friends' of hers. She pushed those thoughts aside as best she could. She much preferred the thought of having friends, especially if that meant having friends beside Biq.

The something, seemingly from the past, was definitely there, but it was like a blurred line; like a wedding ring from that unrequited lover, she couldn't put a finger on it – or _in it_ , rather.

Soon Biq had assembled and lit a grand fire; the warmth emanating from the flame and warming Galinda's hands. She thanked him in a genuinely grateful manner, even after they'd finished dinner.

She expected that 'the time was now', meaning, in this case, that Biq would discuss with her the plan. The plan that Galinda wanted and _needed_ to be filled in on and understand. The aforementioned plan that Biq had only alluded to back in the cave. The plan that... well, the seemingly complicated plan that Biq seemed to be talking about.

"Galinda, are you listening?" asked Biq, annoyed at her lacking attention-span.

"Yes." she said quickly, having been wrapped up in her own thoughts.

"Good. Listen well, for I will only explain this once..." Biq began. Galinda rolled her eyes. He was always so dramatic... wasn't he? There was that blurred line again; not-so-clearly marking the present from the past and mixing her up time and time again.

"Good," she spat back quickly, "because I only plan on listening once."

So badly did she want to crack a wide grin and laugh out loud, but a couple of good reasons kept her from doing so.

Biq, looking straight-faced as always, continued,

"Y-yes, well, here it is; the whole thing. Tomorrow, we make for the river Jonagold - our passage leads through the forest south of here. I have a friend who runs boats at the river there and I'm sure I can persuade her to aid us in our... escape. Well, your escape, Your Majesty." He made a curt attempt at a bow while sitting.

Galinda sat, pondering this. Why hadn't he just spat this out earlier? Such a simple plan could have even been explained while walking. She sighed quietly.

"That sounds... adequate." she replied, for lack of a better comment.

"Fine." Biq said, staring the fire down.

Galinda rubbed her hands quickly together. She gratefully welcomed the warmth, for it had been cold recently, and this fire was certainly a welcome change. A welcome change. She hoped the soon-coming journey would be a change for the better, but she wouldn't know for sure till she'd lived it. Tomorrow, she thought.

 _Tomorrow_ , she repeated, _things_ _will change._

Morning soon came, as did an overwhelming sense of dread. Galinda pushed herself up, blowing stray hairs from her face and opening her eyes to, not the sun, but clouds. A thick grayness occupied the space in the sky where she hoped to see the sun. She sighed.

She decided immediately that it was time to get Biq. After all, she didn't know what time it was, and it seemed they didn't have much. Nearly kneeing herself in the face, Galinda managed to stand herself upright.

"BIQ!" she called, in a significantly sleepier tone than before. She hated her voice in the morning – she couldn't even imagine what she must _look like_ , having slept on the ground and all. She whined and began impatiently stomping her feet.

"BIQ!" she repeated. For the second time this morning, she scanned the area. Biq was nowhere to be found.

She wanted to scream.

Did he _abandon_ her? She couldn't even begin to imagine what she would do to him if he had. She pursed her perfectly pink lips and grit her pearly-white teeth.

"That low-down, double-crossing, small-minded, back-stab-"

She quickly stopped her train of insults as she heard a rustling in the bushes. She tried to look to where the sound was coming from, but she couldn't quite tell.

"Biq...?" she questioned meekly. Slowly, she crept closer to the bushes. She took note of their red and green berries.

"Biq, is that you?" she asked, slowing her pace as she approached the foot of the bush.

Promptly, not an answer came, but a gasp. A male gasp, from the sounds of it.

"Biq! Come out here this _instant_!" she demanded, "By order of the-"

And that's when she saw him. Not Biq, but another man – this man being much noticeably manlier than Biq – and he had dirty-blonde hair, of sorts, much more well-groomed than her previous companion's. In fact, he looked so handsome, so well-groomed, so... _dignified_ he could have been a- a- well, he could have been a _prince!_

Suddenly, she tore her gaze away from his luscious locks and to his face – namely his deep green-ish brown eyes. She knew those eyes, and from what she could tell, she knew them quite well.

"Fiyero?" she nearly whispered, in a happy tone of voice.

Recalling, just then, his name, she barely recalled anything else, besides the fact that she hadn't run into him previously during this adventure. Happily she accepted the fact that traveling alongside Biq was no longer necessary.

"Galinda...?" he said slowly, his eyes twinkling with a sudden joy. "Galinda!" he repeated, nearly yelling her name as a few bluebirds dispersed at the noise.

Immediately he grabbed her hands in his and cheered.

"You may not believe this – but I think I've been looking everywhere for you." he said breathlessly.

"You...think?" Galinda questioned confusedly.

"Yes, I do – and thank goodness for it!" he exclaimed with a quick laugh. Galinda nearly rolled her eyes at his blatant misunderstanding, but laughed along instead.

"No, no – what I meant was, wouldn't you know _for sure_ if you'd been looking for me all this time?" she still smiled, unable to recreate her straight-faced demeanor from the previous day.

Fiyero paused temporarily, thinking over what she'd posed,

"Yes, well, I say 'think' because clearly I'm not sure." he quickly placed his hand on his forehead as if in pain.

Galinda quickly gasped. "Are you okay?!" she asked, leading him to a sort of stone seat Biq had found.

He nodded, his lips quirking into a smirk at her overly obvious concern.

"Peachy." he replied, though really his brain hurt a great deal more than he was letting on.

Galinda smirked too, and quickly fetched some water for him from a nearby stream with a cup she'd recently - and conveniently - found inside her basket.

"Here, drink this," she soothed, "this will help – I think."

"No-one is ever sure around here are they?" Fiyero comically observed, taking the cup to his lips.

After he'd downed about three cups of the fresh, cold stream-water, he proceeded to tell Ms. Upland about his strange journey that led him there.

Together they sat, oppositely facing each other on identical stones as Fiyero began his tale.

"You see," he began slowly, clearly having trouble remembering, (for he rarely ever did) "it all began when I woke up by the river... Jonagold, I think it was..."

"I recognize that name," Galinda mused, not quite forgetting it entirely, "as if I'd heard it in a dream or something..."

"Oh, it's no dream, I assure you – I swam it just last morning." he confessed, cracking a wide grin.

Galinda giggled, picturing in her mind Fiyero swimming against the current using his, as Galinda imagined, 'super-sized' muscles to battle the raging waters in his brave pursuit of her.

"You swam all the way here for me," she nearly swooned, "you shouldn't have..."

"You're right – I shouldn't have." he said, the humor distinctly missing from his tone. He seemed to be remembering the icy-cold waters and how he'd rather not enter into them again.

"B-but for you, uh, Princess, I would do anything." he said. "I mean- I mean-"

Galinda, confused at all this sentence-hopping quirked an eyebrow at her 'prince'. It was almost as if words were just spitting themselves out of his mouth that he didn't mean.

"I mean," he said sternly, looking around as if something where about to jump on him, "I would do most anything except swim the rivers... or uh..."

The sentence Fiyero started went noticeably unfinished as he racked his brain for suitable words, which often made themselves scarce.

"Fiyero, it's fine." Galinda said, smiling gently. "I know how tough it is to, uh, think out here in this air. It's quite... _strange_..." she said quieting as the sentence went on.

"I think I understand." Fiyero said softly, as an uneasy silence filled the gap between them.

About five minutes later, Galinda suddenly remembered her day's journey that should have been happening. She jumped up, her dainty curls bouncing along with her.

"'Yero, we need to get out of here-" she said a tad dramatically.

"Now?" he inquired, clearly puzzled at this statement.

"Yes, please, I promise I'll tell you all about it later, but _the time is now,_ " she found herself repeating, "we have to go."

Fiyero gave a willing nod and, together, they cleared the glen and headed into the forest.

 **AN: I'll probably be pretty busy with Thanksgiving soon, so I probably won't be posting much this week, if at all. But, if I have free-time, I'll work on it :)**

Thank-you, as always, for any readers I may have - I love you guys, and I gratefully welcome any reviewers/favoriters/followers - thank-you so much!


	5. Second Guessing

**AN: I decided to update this again, and hopefully I'll get through this fairytale within the next two chapters. I hope you're all enjoying this so far, and I'd love it if you'd review and tell me, 'cause it's nice to know :)**

 **But I digress, read on! :D**

Chapter Four

The forest was dark; deceivingly so. As the two trekked on, they began to realize more and more how dark and twisted the whole thing had become.

At first, when they'd just cleared the glen and entered, it seemed nice enough – as if Fall had not yet come upon it and the leaves still showed their healthy green color.

Now, as they walked further and further in, it was hard to even _imagine_ a leaf being attached to the skinny, unhealthy things that were the tree's branches.

And, though it was only the middle of the day, the sky above them shone a near ebony-black that echoed the darkness of the entire forest.

Many times, Fiyero had commented on the appearances, and how corrupt it all looked – as if it was under some sort of curse – but those remarks quickly faded, for in the dark of what seemed to be night, nothing could be seen but the occasional, faint glimmer of an eye – whether it be one of theirs or one of an unknown creature lurking about.

Galinda shuddered. This was definitely, absotively, posilutely _not_ what she had signed up for. She began, especially now, to question her sanity. For what place in the world could have looked more like an evil queen's handiwork? Certainly nothing she'd seen previously to this.

She remembered the night before when she and that nasty Biq mess-of-a-huntsman told her their passage would lead through this forest. She sneered. She kicked herself for being so gullible, or rather, what she thought was gullible. Truly, she didn't know what Biq was really up to, but, she didn't happen to care, either. Either way, she hated him – despised him even more-so than before. And she didn't regret it whatsoever.

Fiyero, being the slightly-less-than-average thinker himself, thought mostly about the past, or rather, what he thought, or perhaps imagined, to be the past. He was a prince, that he'd understood from the start – it was made obvious to him when the woman at the boat docks told him so; or, alluded to it. Either way, he was confused; confused about many things – such as, why was he here? He could nearly answer that one; something to do with finding the princess, whom he guessed was walking beside him now, and aiding her in some sort of escapade southwards. Secondly, he was confused about the dockswoman, as he so dubbed her. She seemed to know a lot – a lot more than he himself did. He thought back awhile to when he'd met her the previous morning, and the conversation that ensued.

There she sat, lying upon the empty dock looking peaceful and careless, as if she weren't working – which he hoped she wasn't – he needed to speak with her, presently.

"Good maiden," he called from across the way, "might I ask of you, a question?" he winced at his princely mannerisms and speech, but, for whatever reason, it couldn't be helped.

"Indeed," she answered back with a giggle, "come and sit."

And that is what he did.

"Hello." she greeted, not making eye-contact. However, she did smile becomingly at his presence, and, as he neared her as so he could tower over her, he noticed a strange thing about her, that her green was, well, like the grass, most notably – or like the leaves, meaning, of course, that her skin was an all-together quite-impossible-to-describe shade of... _green._

He nearly jumped back with such surprise, but instead decided against it, for it did seem quite rude.

"Hello." he greeted after some time. She smiled again, her red lips shiny as a dew-covered cherry. She comfortably turned on her side to face him, and opened her nut-brown eyes, long lashes fluttering like a butterfly's wings.

Fiyero shifted his weight to both feet many times, until he finally just sat down so he could look her directly in the eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, genuinely interested.

"I work at the docks," she said with a smirk, " _it's my job_."

"Ah-" was his reply, "what I really meant was, _who_ are you? What is your name?"

"My, uh, my name?" she nearly stuttered, clearly flustered by such a pertinent question.

"Yes."

"My name." she stated briskly, obviously having been caught off guard. "It's El...phaba. My name's Elphaba." said she.

"I'm...Fiyero." he said, after much thought – for he, too, barely remembered anything.

"That is a princely cape you wear." Elphaba commented; changing the subject.

"This? Yes, I suppose it is..." he said, his voice trailing off.

"I don't know many who come by here who bare a cape so richly sewn – do you know who made it?" she asked.

"No, I'm afraid not – it may seem odd, but I can't seem to remember anything previous to today."

She chuckled softly, a laugh Fiyero thought to be quite endearing.

"That is indeed odd," she said, twirling a strand of ebony-black hair with her finger, "You really don't remember a thing?" she asked.

"Well, no. Nothing before this morning." he confirmed.

"I see." she softly whispered.

After a while of silence, the viridescent-skinned woman spoke again.

"This may sound odd to you too, traveler, but I too have found the same to be true." she confessed.

"To be completely honest, in fact, I found it hard to recall my name just now."

Fiyero nodded his agreement. Things were certainly becoming weirder still.

"Might I ask," he began slowly as she looked at him right in the eyes, "do you- well, here now, I know this is going to sound terribly strange but-"

Quickly, she silenced him with the same gesture Biq had previously made; a finger held to one's lips.

"Just ask away." she said smoothly.

"Alright then," he hesitated, "do you... happen to know who I am?" Immediately, he let out air he'd unknowingly been holding in, causing Elphaba to laugh once again.

Glancing at his fancy outfit, she smiled, as she thought of a reasonable guess.

"If it were my place to guess, which I suppose it isn't, I'd say you were of royal descent." she said, noting the intricate detailing on his velvety cape.

Quite shocked by this, Fiyero was almost taken aback by this.

 _"_ _Royal_ descent? As in _royal_ ty?" he said in astonishment.

Elphaba nearly laughed at his childlike display of awe, but quickly thought better of it. "That's just my guess." she said. "After all," she started, fingering and examining the golden clasp on his cape, "you bear the clasp of the royal family, may they rest in peace."

Completely missing her point about the clasp, Fiyero asked,

"Rest in peace? Are they-"

"Dead?" Elphaba interrupted, "Yes – well, yes... and no."

"And no?"

"Meaning, the rightful family, the clasp-bearing royal family are gone; yes. However, a new 'queen' moved into power here. We 'lowly townsfolk' don't recognize her as our rightful ruler however..." she began to pick at the grass beneath them.

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning that we don't accept her rules and reigning like we did as subjects of your family's – you could say we're rebelling."

Fiyero nodded solemnly.

"But, uh, don't go getting all depressed now, it's not all bad, someday we'll rise up and take the kingdom back – for the people. Or..."

"Or...?"

"Well, what they – what _we_ really want is the rightful ruler on the throne, which... would be you, if I'm correct about all this."

This took a few moments to sink in. The ruler. The king. The rightful throne-owner? _Him_?

Shocked, he moved his mouth; speechless.

"It- it must be an awful lot to take in for one day." she said, smiling.

"Believe me, you have no idea." he said with a nervous-sounding chuckle.

"There's no need to be nervous, you know," she said soothingly, "it's not as if she's after you. The person she really wants is _her_..."

"Excuse me, her?"

"Yes, the Princess – the queen's stepdaughter." she explained. "Though not the rightful ruler, she's vengefully against her – nobody I've ever talked to knows why – in fact, the way I've heard it, it seems she was generally well-liked."

Puzzled, Fiyero took a deep breath.

"Sorry – maybe this is too much." she apologized.

"No, no, I'd like to know more about this... princess."

Frowning, Elphaba lay back down on the dock. "There's nothing more I can tell you – I'm sorry."

Getting up to, regretfully, leave, Fiyero said,

"It's quite alright – thank-you... for what you _have_ told me."

"You're very welcome, _Fiyero_ , I wish you well." she whispered.

And he never forgot how it sounded when she said his name.

As he walked, he continued to rack his brain for answers that would not come so soon; continuing this odd adventure through the dark woods south, with the aforementioned princess on her quest of sorts.

Boq stumbled backwards into a tree, knocking him off his feet and landing on his neck. Rubbing it gently with his gloves hand, he stood up wobbly-like and blinked.

For a moment, he just stood. He stood directly in front of the tree, staring out at the forest, the forest he was, strangely enough, not familiar with. In fact, nothing he saw before him rang the smallest of bells.

Suddenly and presently, he found an ax lodged in the toe of his boot. Thankfully, it hadn't much damaged his freezing toes. He removed it and looked it over. It appeared to be an crudely made thing – something he soon realized much resembled the craftsmanship of, well, himself.

He fingered the blade, turning the weapon over in his hands. Was this his? He rubbed his throbbing head and found that he could not recall. Suddenly, he realized something else, as well – he realized that he couldn't remember anything; anything at all.

Glancing down at his boots, he saw a shiny thing sticking out of the left one – a silver slip of paper.

Etched in golden cursive letters read a declaration of a job well done, and also a request from 'Her Royal Highness', the Queen, herself, stating that he would come back to the palace and join in great celebration with her and her court. Also near the bottom, was a statement that told him of a 'new job' that would begin shortly.

As his hands secured the letter beneath his belt, he began to further examine the grounds around him. If he was to attend the palace, he'd need first to find out where he was.

Slowly, slowly, something came to him; a thought.

He began to think,

 _A dock. A boat. A friend. There is something I have to do._

He lifted his eyes to the forest floor in front of him, almost welcoming him to enter into it. He figured, though wrongly, that most any way is a good way, and did as he so chose.

He walked into the forest.

Far away from the depths of the forest; from the safety of the entrance and the docks near the stream, sat a palace of ebony stone that towered high above the mountains and trees. Inside said palace, lived a queen. A queen whose plan was being carried out presently – or, so she thought.

As she spoke wittily to her 'magic mirror', she began to realize that things were not as they seemed – things on her side were taking a turn for the worst – things were not going according to plan.

People were forgetting, princesses were escaping, and meddling princes were learning too much – too much to mention. Though, she thought with a smirk, she thought,

 _Learning too much, yes, but from the right people._

Her red-as-ripened-cherry lips turned to a frown, now, as the mirror continued on.

"Majestic queen with skin so fair, with tresses long of ebony hair, the time is now for you to show who you are; lest memories go."

The queen sneered.

"Not yet, the time is not right;" she sighed and sat on her ebony-colored throne. She looked out into the evening sky that was quickly turning to black. She reflected on the day; how mysterious things had begun to unfold; things she could not have planned for. She regretfully looked into the mirror and, seeing reflections of first, herself, and then of Fiyero and Galinda walking along in the darkness, prayed,

"May they make it through the night."

The picture slowly disappeared, leaving the queen alone with the mirror, who's face was becoming a regular in her mind.

"I'm afraid, my queen, there isn't much time,"

"I know." the queen said, pain clearly visible in her eyes.

Immediately, the mirror's youthful female face began smiling gently, as if sympathizing with her mistress.

"But you know the rhythm; you know the rhyme," the mirror soothed cryptically, her brown eyes continuing the smile that her lips did not.

"I do," the queen said coldly. "But I'm not sure – I don't know – magic mirror, on the wall, is it sound, or safe at all?"

The mirror smiled once again.

"My queen, I'm afraid I cannot lie – so the truth ahead I'll not deny; the first and second times you do, will very easily come to you – the third and fourth, however shed; if used incorrectly will rule them dead."

"Why must you speak to me so cryptically?" the queen shouted angrily. "Can't you see I'm failing?"

"If this time you choose to use the magic I have given you, you'll find that safe you'll indeed be, if you listen exactly to my plea."

"Your _plea_?" the queen questioned desperately. "I just want to change this – change it all."

"As you will, if my final wish you fulfill."

Closely, the queen listened to her mirror, waiting for it, or her, rather, to continue.

"Set me free, undo the curse, and in return I'll better the worse."

"But I- fine, done." the queen agreed. And with a sudden burst of energy, the mirror's captive was set free.

 **AN: I hope I'm not confusing this too much - there will be answers later, if you happen to be confused, I promise. Until next time... rate and review! :)**


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